Life

Life - Music

These guys are a trio of siblings from KC and they absolutely are the best blues band I have had the privilege of seeing many times. Danielle's voice is, well, just listen. I love these guys!

Life - Observations

Allowing life to surprise us becomes harder to do as we get older and that is just sad. The other day was a Saturday like most others. I hadn't any plans and hadn't planned on making any plans. The apartment was clean, I was pretty caught up with work and watchin' movies from the recliner was beginning to look like the rest of the day's inactivity. The dull routine was interupted by my cell phone -- it was my friend, Rick. What did he want on a Saturday?

Rick came upstairs and we relaxed for a bit of casual conversation. After a while he announced that he was on his way to walk for his cardio. It was a beautiful day and I thought that this may be a good opportunity to get off my ass and get some exercise, so off we went to Katy Trail. We had a robust 20 minute walk, thoroughly enjoying the weather and company. It was on the return that Rick brought up Frisbee golf. In no time we had gone to K-Mart for a new Frisbee for Rick, my apartment for my old 160 gram Wham-O World Class Frizz, and elsewhere for other required supplies for such an outing.

We arrived at Cloverdell Park and found the Frisbee Golf Course. We wandered for 10 minutes looking for the first tee, but once we did it was on. Yes, we must've been quite a sight; 2 old hippies lost among the firs, Frisbees in hand, white legs, graying beards, me yelling to be heard by my deaf friend. However, once we began to throw we starting feeling great, almost young again, except neither of us could toss the disc as far as we could in years past. That fact did not take away from this turning into one hell of day! We had a blast and we got some exercise which, of course, is important for gentlemen of a certain age.

Life - Just Bitchin'

OK, I know I can be a bit cranky (My kids went to Disney World some years back and bought me a t-shirt with Grumpy from the 7 Dwarfs on it saying, "I don't do perky!"), but there are some things the warrant some bitching.

Yesterday, while having lunch at a local restaurant, we had the misfortune of being seated near a family with 3 toddlers. Now, that alone is not unfortunate, but the parents and grandparents of these kids thought their little angels were just too adorable to keep all to themselves. The kids were allowed to run, laugh and scream throughout the establishment, all the while the parents were waiting expectantly for compliments and praise from the other customers for having -- and sharing -- these precious little tots.

Here's a little somethin' for ya, mom and dad: Those mini-monsters are NOT cute! You have turned them into unruly and disobedient brats. It's obvious that if you allow your children to behave this way in public that they have even less restraint at home. You know what I think is cute? Kids behaving and respecting their parents.

Anyone remember the saying "children should be seen and not heard?" Is it just that parents are lazy? It takes work to say "NO" and enforce rules and establish and maintain boundaries, but not doing these things results in kids thinking they can do whatever they want; that they should always get their way. My parents were old school. When we were out in public we did NOT run around, scream or otherwise make scenes. It was not done. And you know where that behavior was learned? At home, with rules and boundaries, and parents willing to enforce them. Was I oppressed? Was my creativity stifled? No. I grew up understanding that there are rules AND consequences for breaking those rules.

Yes, most kids are cute and they're really not to blame for bad behavior. It's the parents that deserve the disapproving glances when some kid is making a scene because it wants something it can't have -- until the parents give the forbidden item to them anyway, reienforcing the bad behavior.

Parents, corral them kids! Get things under control at home and things will be under control at Fortune Palace, where I enjoy too many trips through the buffet, sans rugrats running hither and yon. Trust me, no one else at restaurant thinks they're cute, either.